Last spring, I visited one of the
premier technology parks in the southwest, the Sandia
Science and Technology Park (SSTP) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over
the past five years, the Economic Development
Administration (EDA) has invested $1.8 million in this industrial park, funding infrastructure improvements such as new,
high-speed fiber optic lines that help the businesses located there leverage
advances in technology that have been generated by nearby universities and
federal labs.

With the recent release of a report
by the Mid-Region Council of Governments, we have learned what a smart
investment that turned out to be. According to the authors, the $1.8 billion in
economic activity generated by Sandia since it was established in 1998 has brought
more than $73 million in tax revenue for the state of New Mexico and $10.4 million for
the city of Albuquerque.

The effects on employment in the region
are even more impressive. In addition to being responsible for nearly 2,500
direct jobs, the report found that SSTP generated more than 4,100 indirect
jobs—meaning that for every job at the technology park, an additional 1.7 jobs
were created in the region. Combined, these direct and indirect jobs generated
$3.06 billion in wages. Average salaries at SSTP—estimated to be $73,728 in
2011—significantly exceed the average for the Albuquerque metropolitan area,
which was $42,332.

This is all great news for the
Albuquerque area. But it is also a lesson for any region seeking to catalyze
business development and job growth in growing, tech-focused industries.

Public investment by government in
infrastructure is a critical element of any effort to ensure prosperity and
economic growth. By providing essential services that businesses need—such as
roads and other transportation infrastructure, water and sewer services,
communications and information technology services—we aid the growth of new and
expanding businesses. The result will be new jobs, increases in productivity,
growth in profits, and—as we see in Sandia, New Mexico—a spill-over effect over
a wide geographic area.

This was behind President Obama’s
announcement last year directing federal agencies to focus on high-impact,
job-creating infrastructure projects: “Creating jobs is my highest priority as
president, and investing in our nation’s infrastructure can help create those
jobs and grow our economy.”

The Sandia Science and
Technology Park has benefitted over the years from such public investment. In
addition to EDA’s contribution, support came from a variety of partners, including
Sandia National Laboratories, the state of New Mexico, the city of Albuquerque,
and many other entities. With the results tallied in this new report, SSTP is clearly
an excellent example of how public-private partnerships can succeed in
catalyzing investment and creating jobs.